Cai Guo-Qiang Makes a “Homecoming” to Japan

Mermaid project for the 2010 Aichi Triennale. © Cai Guo-Qiang

Cai signs a work created during Editions for SMoCA, one of the opening events for the Snake Museum of Contemporary Art in Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture, in 2013. © Cai Guo-Qiang

Mermaid, a drawing for the 2010 Aichi Triennale. © Cai Guo-Qiang

Ignition of Editions for SMoCA (Snake Museum of Contemporary Art), an opening event for the museum in Iwaki. © Cai Guo-Qiang.

Black Fireworks, a 60-second event using black smoke shells, held on October 25, 2008, at Motomachi Riverside Park near the Atomic Bomb Dome in Hiroshima; commissioned by the Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art. © Cai Guo-Qiang

Seasons of Life: Summer, 2015. Gunpowder on canvas. 259 cm x 648 cm. From the artist’s collection. Photo courtesy of the Yokohama Museum of Art.

Seasons of Life: Spring, 2015. Gunpowder on canvas. 259 cm x 648 cm. From the artist’s collection; displayed at Ignition, the Yokohama Museum of Art, 2015. Photo by Kamiyama Yōsuke.

Nighttime Sakura, 2015. Gunpowder on paper. 800 cm x 2,400 cm. From the artist’s collection; viewed in installation at the Yokohama Museum of Art, 2015. Photo by Gu Kenryou. © Cai Studio

Nighttime Sakura, 2015. Gunpowder on paper. 800 cm x 2,400 cm. From the artist’s collection; displayed at Ignition, the Yokohama Museum of Art, 2015. Photo by Cai Wen-You. © Cai Studio